1. Our First Poem–Consider this an exercise in getting to know one another and an exercise in conscious manipulation of sound in our poetry. First choose the subject for you poem. That subject must be the feeling/emotion with which you are most closely acquainted. Let’s consider feelings/emotions as people. Which one do you know best? Give it life in poetic form. The one condition in this poem is that you must use one or more of the poetic devices we have talked about (i.e. alliteration, assonance, and consonance). Pay attention to the sound of your piece. Don’t overdo the alliteration as you could achieve an effect that you didn’t intend.
Every other aspect of the poem is up to you. But you must make creative decision consciously! Meaning, if your poem is literal, then it is literal for a reason. If you rely heavily on imager, then you do so for a reason. And so on. Number of stanzas and length of stanzas are up to you. Remember, poetry is the best words in the best order! This is a draft with the final, typed version to be due on Tuesday.
2. The Raven–Print, Read and Annotate the poem. Most of you I am sure have read it already…good! Focus your annotations on sound…all techniques employed to affect the sound of the piece.